University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a national university, alert to its African and international context as it strives to be a place of quality, a place to grow. It is committed to excellence in teaching, learning and research, to nurturing the cultural diversity of South Africa, and to responding in critical and creative ways to the needs of a society in transition. UWC has made significant strides in increasing its research profile and performance over the past decade. Its research outputs have grown by 365% in the past 12 years with output in the form of publications and graduating Masters and Doctoral students having more than doubled since 2006. In South Africa, UWC is also ranked 5th in terms of the percentage of staff with doctoral level qualifications and 8th for research output in the form of publications, masters and doctorate graduates. Recently, in the first Times Higher Education (THE) ranking of the top 30 universities in Africa – released at the inaugural THE Africa Universities Summit, UWC has been placed seventh on the continent and 5th in South Africa. The university has strong international partnerships with a number of European and American universities; having participated in the Erasmus Mundus (EM) programme since 2009. In 2014, UWC was the most successful of the South African universities in terms of grantees participating in the various EM programmes. UWC has also recently featured, for the first time, in the top 800 institutions in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings.
Role in project
UWC will provide inputs into the development of the project outcomes, using their particular experience to date in South Africa (SA) and the perspective of a strongly emerging research university in SA to the exchanges of good practice and building of individual and institutional RMA capacity. UWC will participate in the development of 1) the content of a postgraduate diploma course for RMAs; 2) An accreditation route for RMA professionals; and 3) the development of a Masters in RMA curriculum for the SADC region. 4) A focus on RMA staff and information exchanges across the SADC and EU regions involved, for the exchange of good practice, and developing mutual understanding of the RMA contexts. UWC staff will participate in a survey and benchmarking exercise, to develop a shared framework for institutional RMA structures and to identify gaps that may exist in their current institutional/individual RMA capacities. Staff exchanges (internships and mentorships) will form part of this activity.
Thandi Mgwebi - tmgwebi@uwc.ac.za
Website: www.uwc.ac.za